


Susie, Darling

by phantomthief_fee



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Internalized Homophobia, No murder, Only a brief mention though, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Songfic, Tom is Allison's wingman, Underage Drinking, just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:43:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21963778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomthief_fee/pseuds/phantomthief_fee
Summary: Just a shameless shippy songfic for SusiexAllison to the song Jenny by Studio Killers
Relationships: Susie Campbell/Allison Pendle, Thomas Connor & Allison Pendle
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Susie, Darling

_Jenny, darling, you’re my best friend  
But there’s a few things that you don’t know of  
Why I borrow your lipstick so often  
I’m using your shirt as a pillow case_

Allison had had a crush on Susie long before she’d started working at Joey Drew Studios. 

She’d seen Susie singing in a club once when she’d been a teenager. and had become captivated by Susie’s angelic voice. She wasn’t supposed to have been there in the first place. It had been an act of rebellion on her part against her oppressively strict parents. She had often snuck out at night to meet up with her friends, who her father hadn’t approved of. She’d never gone so far as to take drugs or drink excessively though. She wasn’t that rebellious.

She’d snuck into the club that night with a few of her friends. They were too young to be there, most of them being 16 to 17, but batting their eyelashes and smiling had served to convince the doorman to let them in. Her friends had gone to the bar to get some drinks while Allison had found her attention drawn to the stage. Susie had just been getting up on the stage to begin her set and Allison had found her breath taken away by the sight of her. 

To Allison, it had felt as though she’d just beheld an angel. Susie’s hair had been cut short back then, her curls framing her face perfectly. She’d worn a black evening gown that hugged the curves of her ample body, with white gloves reaching up to her elbows and a pearl necklace and earrings. Allison had been unable to tear her eyes from Susie the entire time she sang. When she’d gone home that night and closed her eyes, she’d seen Susie’s face. The way the spotlight had glinted off of Susie’s platinum blond hair. The way her ruby red lips moved as she sang. 

From that moment onward, she’d wanted to be just like Susie Campbell. 

As a teenager, she hadn’t quite understood what her feelings toward Susie meant. She’d assumed her adoration had come from a desire to be **like** Susie. After all, it wasn’t natural for a woman to be attracted to another woman…right? Her father had always told her that it was unnatural to love someone of the same sex romantically. Her mother hadn’t been quite as vocal on that point, but she’d certainly supported it. It was only after Allison had broken free of her parents that she finally realized that she didn’t want to be like Susie. She wanted to be **with** Susie. 

The moment this realization had hit her had been something of an epiphany for her. Everything suddenly made so much more sense. All the feelings she’d had towards other girls, her obsession with Susie. She **was** attracted to women. Her father had been wrong! She’d felt unbelievably giddy for a few days afterward. It felt so good to finally be able to embrace this part of her. She’d even begun to secretly date women, her crush on Susie Campbell fading into the background.

And then she’d been hired at Joey Drew Studios. 

At that point, she’d been doing voice acting for a few years. Mostly bit parts and back up vocals for various projects. It wasn’t much, but she was fine with it. She was still rather new to the business and it was enough for her just to be able to do it. Some part of her still hoped she’d be able to sing with Susie, though. She’d heard of Susie going to work at Joey Drew Studios from the papers and seen Susie’s name in the credits of the Alice Angel shorts. It had almost felt too good to be true when she herself had received a letter asking her to come in and do some voice work.

Upon entering the studio for the first time, Allison was greeted by a delighted Susie Campbell. 

“Hello!” Susie threw herself onto Allison, giving her a surprisingly strong hug for someone so small. “I’m so excited to be working with you!”

“Oh, um, uh, I-I’m excited to be working with you too.” Allison stammered. She felt her cheeks starting to heat up. She had daydreamed this exact scenario at least a dozen times before.

“Come on, Susie, you’re scaring her.” Sammy walked up behind them. He looked rather grumpy, which had initially scared Allison a bit, but there wasn’t any malice or venom behind his words. 

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Susie let go of Allison, smiling apologetically. “It’s just so exciting to be working with another voice actress!” Her huge smile gave Allison butterflies in her stomach. 

“You’ve worked with other voice actresses before,” Sammy said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. 

“But never for an extended period in time!” Susie shot back. “She’s going to be working here permanently!”

“Mr. Drew said I’d just be doing backup vocals and bit parts,” Allison said, unable to think of anything else to say. 

“For now~” Susie got a mischevious smirk on her face that made Allison’s face heat up again.

“Hey. No.” Sammy smacked the back of her head with a folder. “You are not going to blackmail Joey into making a new character.”

“I never said anything about blackmailing!” Susie protested with an adorable pout. 

“You didn’t have to.” Sammy folded his arms, returning her smirk from before. Susie huffed dramatically, turning away from him. Judging from their behavior, they were likely close. Allison couldn’t help but feel the familiar pangs of jealousy. 

“Why don’t I show you around?” Susie asked, taking Allison by the arm. “I can show you where you’ll be working!”

“Oh, uh, sure.” Allison was unable to keep herself from smiling as Susie led her away. 

“Come to my office when you’re done!” Sammy called after them. “I want to see what your vocal range is so I’ll know what to write for you!”

Allison only half heard him. She was too focused on the warmth of Susie’s hand against hers and the musical sound of Susie’s voice as the smaller woman pointed out various places and what they were. Allison tried to pay attention as best she could so she wouldn’t get lost. But she found it rather hard to concentrate, continually getting distracted by the close proximity to Susie.

At the end of the tour, Susie turned to Allison, smiling apologetically. 

“I really am sorry if I scared you earlier,” she said, still holding Allison’s hand. “It’s just so exciting to be able to work with another singer.”

“No, it’s alright,” Allison assured her. “I’m excited to be working with you too. I’m a bit fan of your work.”

“You are?” Susie lit up again, beaming at her. 

“Yes. I saw you sing at a club when I was a teenager.” Allison smiled back at her. “It…It made me want to start singing too.” She admitted with a small blush. 

Susie gasped softly, clasping Allison’s hand in both of hers. 

“Oh, darling, I’m so honored to hear that,” she whispered. 

Allison’s breath caught in her throat. Working here was going to be harder than she’d thought.

_I wanna ruin our friendship  
We should be lovers instead  
I don’t know how to say this  
‘Cause you’re really my dearest friend_

Allison had thought she’d gotten over her crush on Susie, but working so closely with her had brought her teenage crush back full force. She was around Susie every day for five days a week. Even more than that sometimes! Susie had decided they were going to be friends the second Allison had set foot in the studio and was determined to make that a reality. They ate lunch together, Susie invited her to hang out outside of work. 

Allison enjoyed every moment with her. Susie was like the sun. Bright and warm, making everyone around her feel special just by being with her. When she smiled at you, it felt like you were the only person in the world. She made you feel important and seen. For Allison, someone who was used to being overlooked, it was incredible. 

It was through this friendship that Allison began to get more confident and outspoken. Watching Susie stand up for herself and be completely unashamed of who she was made Allison want to follow her example. And so Allison started standing up for herself when she’d previously allowed others to walk all over her.

“I’m so proud of you for standing up to that creep the other day!” Susie said one day when they sat down for lunch. 

The day before a morality group had visited the studio. They’d been by before and pretty much everyone in the studio **hated** them. Especially the women, as some of the men from the group were incredibly patronizing and occasionally rather aggressive. Susie herself had had a few choice words for them in previous visits that would have made a sailor blush.

“Oh, thanks.” Allison couldn’t keep herself from smiling. “I just couldn’t stand listening to him anymore.” Her nose wrinkled at the thought of him.

“You really did us all a favor. I couldn’t stand him either.” Susie’s expression soured as well at the memory. 

The man in question had been directing some rather disparaging remarks toward Allison and Susie, talking about how it was ‘such a shame to see such nice girls working in such an unholy place’ and ‘you’ll never find husbands if you keep doing this sort of thing’. Allison had very quickly gotten tired of listing to his drivel. It was the sort of thing she’d heard for years while under her father’s thumb. So, putting on her sweetest and most innocent smile, she’d turned and addressed the man in a sickly sweet tone of voice. 

Turning his church rhetoric right back on him, she’d begun to scold him on using his faith to spread hatred and fear and that certainly wasn’t what Jesus had been about. And Joey could be a bit of a dick sometimes, but he was very fair in his hiring practices and he treated them all fairly, which was certainly more than she could say for him and his group. They had been nothing but disrespectful ever since they’d shown up and shame on them for treating the employees here like they were lesser. Jesus had broken bread with prostitutes and criminals. Did this man think he was better than Jesus?

By the end of her little speech, the man had been white as a sheet and at a loss for words. He’d said something to their leader and the whole group had left as quickly as they could. 

“It really was impressive how you turned his ideas back on him,” Susie continued, leaning her head on Allison’s shoulder. “I never could have done that.”

“Well, I’ve had practice.” Allison’s smile slipped a bit. She hadn’t actually expected those arguments to work. They hadn’t worked on her father. He’d just told her to stop being ‘mouthy’. 

Susie’s expression grew concerned and she drew back a bit.

“Bad family?” She asked softly, putting a gentle hand on Allison’s shoulder. 

“Yeah…” Allison hung her head. 

“Well, if you want me to beat them up, just say the word!” Susie said, rolling up her sleeves and giving Allison a determined grin. Allison stared at her for a moment, then started to giggle. 

“Thank you, Susie,” she replied. “I appreciate it.”

“No problem!” Susie gave her another hug. “Anything for my best friend!” Allison couldn’t help but feel an uncomfortable pang in her heart at those words. 

**_Best friend…_ **

Was that all she’d ever be?

_Jenny, darling, you’re my best friend_

_I’ve been doing bad things that you don’t know about  
Stealing your stuff now and then  
Nothing you’d miss but it means the world to me_

She stole Susie’s makeup sometimes. 

Yes, she knew that was creepy. She didn’t need anyone to tell her that stealing makeup made her seem like a creepy stalker. 

But it wasn’t like she’d started doing it out of nowhere. It had started with Susie leaving some lipstick at Allison’s place after coming over to pick her up so they could go see a play together. Allison hadn’t thought of keeping it, of course, calling Susie to ask if she wanted it back. Susie had told her to keep it, and so Allison had. 

When she used it, she imagined she was indirectly kissing Susie. After all, the lipstick had touched Susie’s lips and now it was touching hers. 

She felt silly for thinking that. She was a grown woman! She shouldn’t be doing things like this! But she couldn’t help herself. As far as she was concerned, this was the closest she’d ever get to **actually** kissing Susie. 

Mostly she stole lipstick. Not the nice ones. Just the cheap ones Susie kept in her locker as backups. That was how she’d met Tom properly for the first time. He’d caught her breaking into Susie’s locker to steal said lipstick. 

“Whatcha doin’?” She’d frozen upon hearing the gruff voice coming from behind her. Ever so slowly, she’d turned around. 

Tom stood there, arms folded and an amused smirk on his face. She’d seen him around before. Joey brought him in every so often to look at mechanical issues. He always looked so grumpy. This might have been the first time she’d seen him smile.

“…Hi.” She waved awkwardly. 

“Hey.” Tom snorted, his smirk widening. “You gonna tell me what you’re doing?”

“….Would you believe me if I said nothing?” She asked with a nervous smile.

“I’m not that stupid, Miss Pendle.” He laughed. 

Crap! He knew her name! 

She started to sweat. There was no disappearing back into the crowd if he knew her name **and** her face. 

“I was…Um…” Allison fumbled, trying to find the right excuse. She didn’t want to admit that she’d been trying to steal Susie’s lipstick. 

“Breaking into Susie’s locker?” Tom supplied. Now that she looked closer, it appeared he seemed to be holding back laughter.

“…..Maybe?” Allison slowly withdrew her hands from the locker dial.

“And _why_ are you breaking into her locker?” Tom raised an eyebrow. 

“….tostealherlipstick,” Allison mumbled, her voice low enough that she hoped Tom wouldn’t hear her. 

“P-Pardon?” Clearly, Tom had caught some part of that as he was trying even harder to hold back his laughter. Little snorts and giggles were slipping out, though. 

“To…Steal her lipstick,” Allison repeated, feeling her cheeks heat up. 

Tom stared at her for a moment, then turned away and started absolutely cackling with laughter. 

“H-Hey!” Allison’s face got even warmer. “Don’t laugh at me!”

“I’m-I’m sorry,” Tom gasped out between bouts of laughter. “That’s-that’s just gotta be the weirdest reason I’ve heard for breaking into someone’s locker.” 

He kept laughing for a few more minutes before finally petering off.

“Aw, man.” He wiped away some tears. “Why are you trying to break into her locker for lipstick anyway? Aren’t you two friends?”

“We are…”

“Then why don’t you just ask her for the lipstick? She’d definitely give it to you.”

Allison didn’t say anything, lowering her gaze. She was **not** explaining this to Tom. Absolutely not. He was old enough to be her father! Or…Maybe that was a bit much. He was still at least 5-10 years her senior, though. There was no way he’d understand. 

Then he laughed again. Softer this time. 

“You got it bad, don’t you, kiddo?” His voice was surprisingly gentle. Allison’s head jerked up to see him smiling fondly at her. She didn’t need to ask what he meant. She already knew. He had her all figured out and they both knew it. Still, she felt she needed to deny it. Gods knew why.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!” She started to sputter, but Tom cut her off. 

“Please don’t lie to me,” he said, a hint of sternness entering his voice. “I don’t appreciate that.”

“I…Okay.” Allison hung her head again. “I’m that obvious?”

“It was actually a guess,” Tom admitted. “I figured there was a 50/50 chance you were in love with her or you hated her.”

“You tricked me.” Allison narrowed her eyes at him. 

“I absolutely did not.” Tom folded his arms, looking a tad bit offended. “Now, do you want in the locker or not?”

Allison blinked, this question taking her off guard. “You…You’re going to help me get in?”

“Whatever this thing you’re doing is, it’s clearly not healthy,” Tom said, taking a ring of keys from his belt. “But I figure you’re just gonna come back and try again if you don’t get it tonight.” 

Allison wanted to protest as he unlocked the locker, but he had her dead to rights. That was exactly what she’d been planning to do if she had ended up failing that night.

“There you go.” Tom opened the locker and gestured to it. Allison’s eyes darted from Tom to the locker and back to Tom. She darted forward, digging through Susie’s makeup bag to snatch an old tube of dime-store lipstick red.

“Thanks.” She said, tucking the tube into her purse.

“No problem.” Tom smiled at her. “Just…Please don’t do this again.”

“…I make no promises.”

Tom just sighed, closing the locker and relocking it. “Let’s get you out of here, alright?”

He caught her the next few times she tried it, escorting her out of the studio while telling her that she really needed to find a better way to cope with her crush than thievery. 

The two of them actually started getting coffee to talk about it. Tom made it very clear he wasn’t interested in her romantically, thankfully.

“Then why are you helping me?” She asked. 

“Your pining is genuinely difficult to watch,” He replied.

_Jenny take my hand  
'Cause we are more than friends  
I will follow you until the end  
Jenny take my hand  
I cannot pretend  
Why I never like your new boyfriends_

She hated Susie’s boyfriends. She hated watching Susie kiss them, hated watching Susie fawn over them, hated knowing Susie’s loving gazes were focused on them and not her. She felt especially bad about this when it came to Sammy since Sammy was always so respectful and kind to her. But she couldn’t help but feel that burning sense of jealousy whenever she watched Susie with him.

Susie and Sammy were in the music room right now, practicing a song Sammy had written. They’d offered to let her join since she was the backup singer, but she’d declined. She’d tried that before and she hadn’t been able to work at all, always finding herself too focused on the contact between Sammy and Susie, even though they weren’t currently dating. The way Susie would bat at Sammy’s shoulder when he said something she thought was funny, the small smile Sammy gave Susie when she sang. Sammy gave Allison that smile as well, but Allison only ever noticed it when it was directed at Susie. She felt awful that she was being so petty.

“Jealousy isn’t a good look on you, kid.” Allison started, almost falling over at hearing Tom’s voice come from behind her. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” She sputtered, standing up a bit straighter and trying to pretend she hadn’t been watching Susie. She wasn’t sure why she was trying to deny it. Tom already knew.

“Uh-huh.” Tom folded his arms, giving her an incredulous look. “You know this isn’t the first time I’ve seen you doing this, right? You’re not exactly subtle.”

Allison let out a small squeak, hunching her shoulders as she felt her face begin to get warm. 

“How…How many times have you seen it?” She mumbled, her gaze firmly on her shoes.

“Enough to know that you need to talk to her,” Tom replied. 

“I-I can’t.” Allison shook her head, her shoulders hunching further. “What if she doesn’t feel the same way? What if she freaks out? What if she never wants to talk to me again?!” She was starting to hyperventilate now.

“She’s not going to hate you.” Tom put a hand on her shoulder, his mere touch calming her down a bit. She’d always thought of Tom as the man she’d wished her father had been. 

“How do you know?” She asked, her voice small. 

“That woman adores you,” Tom laughed, patting her back. “It’ll be fine.”

Still, Allison hesitated. Her anxieties rampaged through her mind

“You need to talk to her,” Tom said gently. “It can’t be pleasant to keep your feelings bottled up like this.”

_Oh, your love for them won’t last long  
Forget those amigos_

Allison hated to admit it, but Tom was right. 

It **wasn’t** pleasant to keep her feelings bottled up. She wanted more than anything for Susie to know how she felt.

So she was going to tell her. Right now. She was going to do it. 

That was what she kept telling herself as she hovered outside the recording booth. She was going to do this, she kept telling herself, even as she found herself frozen in place. All her anxieties were running rampant once more. Then, Susie opened the door. 

“Oh! Allison!” She lit up upon seeing her. “Are you supposed to record lines too?”

“Oh, um, uh, no.” It felt difficult to speak. Her heart pounded and her hands were shaking. 

“Is…Something wrong?” Susie asked slowly, her smile falling. “You don’t look well.”

“I’m fine,” Allison said quickly. “I just…There’s something…Something I need to tell you.”

“Alright.” Susie was frowning now, rather concerned by how shaky Allison looked. 

“I…I….” Why was it so hard to force the words to come out?

“Yes?” 

“I…I have a crush on you!” Allison managed to yell. “I’ve had a crush on you ever since I saw you perform in that club!” 

Once the words were out, it felt like a weight had been lifted from her. She’d said it. She’d told her. 

Susie stared at her for a moment or two, then smiled. It was the sort of tender smile Allison had so often seen directed toward Susie’s boyfriends. 

“Oh, darling,” she whispered, taking Allison’s hands in hers. “I thought you’d never tell me.”

“Y-You could tell?” And just like that, Allison felt like crawling under a rock and dying. Had she really been **that** obvious? Did the whole studio know about her crush?

“Well, I only picked up on it recently,” Susie laughed softly. “I wanted you to tell me yourself, though. And I’m glad you finally did. Because now I can do this.” 

To Allison’s surprise, Susie grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her down to plant a kiss on her lips. Allison was so stunned she hardly believed what she was experiencing was real. 

“Allison? Darling?” Susie waved her hand in front of Allison’s face. “Are you alright?”

“I…Yes?” Allison managed to stammer. “But I thought- You and Sammy?”

“We broke up months ago,” Susie said with a shrug. “We’re better off as friends. Besides, he’s got his eye on someone else.” She gave Allison a wink.

“So you want to…?” Allison began, almost scared to finish the sentence. 

“Go out with you?” Susie happily supplied. “Well, only if _you’re_ interested.”

“Of course I am!” A smile bigger than anything Susie had ever seen from her before spread across Allison’s face. 

“Wonderful!” Susie threw herself onto Allison again, hugging her tight. 

From the shadows where he was fixing a pipe, Tom smiled to himself. It was about time.

**Author's Note:**

> I've gotten rather attached to this ship as of late and I regret absolutely nothing


End file.
